Proust in translation

Is Marcel Proust's A la Recherche du Temps Perdu better in the English translation by CK Scott Moncrieff? Photograph: Bettmann/CORBIS

A dinner-party in Paris in the mid-60s. Marcel Proust is the subject of the conversation. The Frenchman on my right, a teacher, turns to me and says, in French (the following translation is mine), with the utmost seriousness: “Of course, it’s impossible to really appreciate Proust without having read the Scott-Moncrieff translation.” I’ve frequently used that ever since as a wonderful example of literary pretentiousness. Following your article (The back page, Review, 15 August), do I owe my dinner neighbour a apology (to be received posthumously, I fear)?Marcel BerlinsLondon

• At a time of my and many other Jews’ distress at the Israel/Gaza horrors and the subsequent backlash of rising antisemitism in Britain and Europe, it amazes me that in describing Lauren Bacall as “proudly Jewish” Sali Hughes (The first on the list for beauty, 14 August) feels obliged to add the phrase “she rubbished rumours of a nose job”. Here we go again! I hope it was just a slip of the pen. I’m not cancelling my Guardian yet, but just to oblige your stereotyping remain, defiantly, a big-nosed Jew.Dr Andrew PlatmanLondon